Entertainment | Film & Cinema
Pa Ra Da: tears and laughter
The man who inspired Pa Ra Da said he wanted to paint a smile on the faces of children who cried too much.
- By Kelly Crane, Staff Reporter
- Published: 23:32 December 15, 2008
- Pa Ra Da follows the story of Miloud, who transformed the lives of street children in Bucharest, Romania, by teaching them circus tricks and skills.
- Image Credit: Hadrian Hernandez/Gulf News
The movie is serious, the message even more so — the inspiration, however, is not. Miloud Oukili, the man who inspired the Italian director Marco Pontecorvo to make the film Pa Ra Da, sits with a red nose perched on his face and smiles at everyone around him.
Struggling on every level to keep a straight face, he begins his story more than 36 years ago, when he left France as a circus clown for Romania and the streets of Bucharest.
"I worked for an organisation that employed entertainers to make handicapped children smile. But when I arrived, I saw the poverty of the street kids and knew I had to do something more."
So, although conducting an interview with your subject staring back at you with a bright red clown's nose is perhaps not the norm, it also makes it even easier to understand Oukili's extraordinary talent and ability to not only make people laugh, but also make a difference.
Pa Ra Da tells the story of Oukili's experiences after his arrival in Romania in 1992, three years after the fall of president Nicolae Ceausescu, and in particular his encounters with the street children of Bucharest, known as boskettari.
"The children live in the streets and sleep in Bucharest's sewers, eking a living out of petty crime, begging and prostitution. I met with neglected kids in a feral state because of their tragic past. Most were ravaged by physical and sexual abuse and drug addiction. I just wanted to bring something good to their lives."
By riding around on a bicycle and wearing a red nose, Oukili caught the children's attention and encouraged them to come to his performances. He learned their language, he talked to them, he tried to make them stop taking drugs and he began teaching them circus skills.
He eventually succeeded in creating a real circus company in which the street children became the clowns and performed in Bucharest's main square.
Hard life
"Life is hard and so is the circus. If you are able to be successful in the circus, you will find your way through the difficulties of life as well."
Today, the small circus group named PARADA spends an increasing amount of time on tour in Italy and France.
"I paint a smile on the faces of children who have already cried too much in their lives," Oukili says.
Pontecorvo, son of the renowned Italian director Gillo Pontecorvo, read about Oukili's plight, often hampered by corrupt and prejudiced Romanian police officers, and was touched by his efforts.
"Making a film is a big enough challenge but making one about a true story which is so emotional is even harder," said Pontecorvo.
"At first glance it seemed approachable, but then you start the research and realise there are millions of stories within one story. We ended up with so much material it was hard to know what to use — I often felt flooded, because it was all so emotional.
"We also had the added complication of shooting the movie like a documentary, but making sure we respected and maintained the truth behind the story. Construction of the movie, especially on such a small budget, was also very difficult."
PARADA has reintegrated more than 300 street children into society after the organisation rented seven flats in Bucharest.
"I would not move my camera from the location of filming for each scene until I could answer one question: Do I completely believe what I am filming? When the answer was no, or short of yes, I would not move on. Sometimes I felt like a circus clown on a tightrope, with no net underneath me. It had to be real, but we were on a budget and schedule. It was a balancing act."
Oukili no longer works with PARADA and has now moved on to other charity work, but the organisation remains active in Italy, France and Bucharest.
Often branded a hero, Oukili says he doesn't see it that way. "The real heroes are street children. The children who have made a difference and are starting to turn things around for themselves.
"I gave the Pope a red nose and asked him to bless it," said Oukili, pointing at the red nose and squashing the sides together. "Because although this nose may only be a plastic tool for us, it is also a symbol of dignity and hope for the children."
Too many memories
While more than 1,000 people walked the red carpet at the Dubai International Film Festival to attend the gala screening of Pa Ra Da, there was one man who didn't.
Miloud Oukili, the real-life subject of Italian director Marco Pontecorvo's first feature film, stepped out of the limo, posed for pictures in front of the world's media and chatted to guests, but left Pontecorvo and the Italian actor Liviu Bitus at the entrance of the Madinat Arena theatre.
"It is too hard for me to watch the film. I have only ever seen it once in Rome and I find it very difficult to watch, because of the things I have experienced."
Pa Ra Da follows the story of Miloud, who transformed the lives of street children in Bucharest, Romania, by teaching them circus tricks and skills.
Youngsters who, in order to have warm and dry shelter, were forced to co-habit with cockroaches and rats and cook on the floor.
Pontecorvo said: "It is a real-life fairytale. Audiences across Europe knew the story, so the reaction was very different to when we were in Toronto. In Canada nobody knew the story and I think a lot of people were shocked when they discovered it was a true story."
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